Tiriyaya hamlet is situated in the East Kaddukulam Pattu District Secertary’s Division of the Trincomalee District. Tiriyaya is accessible from the turnoff between the 27^th and the 28^th mile posts on the Trincomalee-Pulmuddai Road. The Vatadage is located on the hillock in the west of Tiriyaya.  The approach to the dagoba is through a flight of steps in the South of the hillock. The dagoba which was originally small in size had been enlarged in the 8^th century A.D. and a Vatadage built enclosing it. The Vatadage, which is built on a circular platform has two concentric rows of stone pillars. Encircling the pillars is a brick wall containing orifices to secure timber columns. Flights of steps leading to the Vatadage from the four cardinal directions end up at four flower alters. A cave in the environs of the Vatadage has an inscription dating to the pre Christian era. A rock outcrop in the vicinity contains an 8^th century Sanskrit rock inscription. According to folk lore Tiriyaya is the Buddhist temple known as Girihanduseya claimed to have been built by the merchant brothers Tapassu and Bhalluka.